Fears raised over school wall safety

John A. MacInnes

A southside school has been identified as requiring repairs of walls following inspections by the PFI which owns it.

All schools in the area were checked after the wall collapse at Oxgangs Primary in Edinburgh caused by problems with wall ties.

As the Extra reported in August, no East Ren schools had been built by the same contractors and the council confirmed that checks in 2016 showed no safety issues.

But we can now reveal that East Ren Council has issued a letter to all parents of children at Mearns Primary advising them that repairs are required ‘following issues identified through a process of inspection’. The council says there are no safety concerns associated with the work which is required.

However, purely as a precaution, it is to install safety fencing around the areas where work is to be undertaken during the spring break.

The council said: “The remedial work identified as a result of the inspections carried out includes replacing some wall ties on the gable end wall of three of the classroom blocks and also on one outer wall of the music/IT block and games hall.

“Additional works for wind resilience will also be undertaken on the classroom blocks and at the outer wall of the games hall. During the course of this work any wall tie which does not meet the recommended installation standards will be replaced.”